Activism

Over 50 Protestors Attend Rally Against New Proposed Homelessness Management Policy

Published

5 years ago

October 15, 2020

Dayton Andrews gives a speech next to trash bags that protestors dumped outside of Oakland’s Department of Public Works building during a rally against a proposed new homelessness management policy. The dumping called attention to city inaction against businesses and housed residents dumping waste in communities where unhoused people live. Photo by Jungho Kim on Oct. 10, 2020.

Over 50 people attended a rally against new proposed legislation, called the Encampment Management Policy, outside of Oakland’s City Hall on Oct. 10 from 1:00 p.m. to around 4:00 p.m.

The rally started with speeches in the amphitheater in front of City Hall. Dayton Andrews of The United Front Against Displacement, the group who hosted the rally, spoke first.

“This Encampment Management Policy creates no pathways into housing,” he said. “it merely expands…police authority to [mess] with homeless people.”

Protestors included members of the United Front Against Displacement from the Bay Area, Boston and New York, members of local housing justice groups Bay Area TANC and The Village as well as unhoused Bay Area residents including those who live in the 37MLK community.

Andrews and other speakers stood in front of a boarded up City Hall entrance upon which an unknown source graffitied “OHLONE LAND” and “BLACK LIVES MATTER” last summer and behind two banners trapped across the amphitheater stairs which read “SERVE THE PEOPLE NOT THE RICH” and “THE UNITED FRONT AGAINST DISPLACEMENT” in large black and red letters.

In his speech, Andrews claimed the EMP “codifies and normalizes” the city’s recent and current practice of clearing people who experience homelessness out of an area while offering them no other safe place to live.

On March 27, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution requesting that the City Administration follow CDC guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic and “only clear homeless encampments if individual housing units or alternative shelter is provided,” but the language used, as a request, has not required the city to do or not do anything.

Although the pace of clearances has slowed during the pandemic, they have still been happening. On Sept. 23, the City demolished structures that had sheltered 20 to 30 homeless people living under the BART rail on 85th Avenue and San Leandro Street in East Oakland and offered them no alternative shelter.

The new Encampment Management Policy, which City Administration formulated, does not provide new services to people experiencing homelessness in Oakland but defines areas that encompass most of Oakland as “high sensitive areas,” then states those areas will be subject to closure.

High sensitivity areas include those within 150 feet of schools, 50 feet or residences, businesses, parks, playgrounds, or sports courts. The City Administration plans to present the EMP to City Council on October 20 where council can approve, outright reject, or engage in a process of changing the policy.

Speakers at the rally did not address reforming the new policy, but some spoke broadly of what they felt all Oakland residents deserve in terms of housing.

“We want decent housing fit for the shelter of human beings,” said activist former Black Panther Frances Moore, widely known as Aunti Frances. She then suggested land and housing should be bought using government aid to be cooperatively owned by Black and oppressed communities who are experiencing homelessness.

Romalita, a resident of the homeless community 37MLK, spoke of how her homelessness is making it impossible for her to get needed surgery. She was critical of those in political positions of power at all levels and emphasized unity amongst activists.

“There’s no one up there who I like, or who’s doing anything for us,” she said. “If we can just stand hand-in-hand together, we can be the power. We are the power.”

After the speeches, protestors marched around City Hall and to the Dept. of Public Works Building, where they laid down a tarp and dumped bags full of trash, a tire, and a couch cushion gathered from a large homeless community in West Oakland.

Before the dumping, Andrews spoke of how homeless people get blamed for trashing areas but are not given consistent trash services by the City and that the places they live become dumping grounds for business and housed residents.

As they dumped trash, protestors chanted “All power to the people.” They picked up the trash before leaving the site.

Michelle Snider

Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.

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Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.

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Activism

Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

1 week ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.